Malaga
Malaga is much more than a beach town. In 8th century, Phoenicians built a fort on the hill, now the site of the Alcazaba. In Roman times Malaga was a colony; under the Moors, Malaga was the primary port for the kingdom of Granada. Picasso was born in Malaga, and the city is still a big port for Spain. For kids, Malaga has one of our favorite castles, the 14th century Castillo de Gibralfaro.
Malaga beaches - The beaches in Malaga are very family friendly, with miles of flat sand and tiny waves. At the beach there are children's playgrounds, showers to wash off the sand, umbrella, beach chair and pedal boat rentals, restaurants and snack bars. The beach nearest the city center is Playa de la Malagueta. Further east are Playa de Pedregalejo and Playa de las Acacias; a fun thing to do is to have barbequed fish, right on the beach.
Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels, all styles and price ranges, convenient to fun things to do with kids in:
